Blair Brettschneider has been named a CNN Hero and a Forbes 30 Under 30, among other accolades, for the work done through her nonprofit, GirlForward. GirlForward is dedicated to creating opportunities for girls who’ve been displaced by conflict and persecution and have been resettled in the US. GirlForward was founded in 2011, has seven employees, operates in Austin and Chicago, and is looking to open a third location in 2019. Blair discusses hiring, managing, and leading her team with me on this episode of The Best Team Wins Podcast. Find show notes and more below.

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Show Notes:

1:12 – Blair was named to the Forbes 30 Under 30 list

1:57 – About GirlForward

4:07 – The origin story of the staff at GirlForward

6:28 – Recruiting, interviewing, and hiring process at GirlForward

9:23 – Blair’s vision for the culture at GirlForward

11:27 – Intentional applications vs. copy and paste

13:32 – Nonprofits and how GirlForward takes a different approach to pay and compensation

15:28 – How Blair structures the environment at GirlForward to ensure open and honest conversations

16:40 – Strengths-based approach to teams and how it scales

19:10 – What could GirlForward be better at on the people side of their organization?

20:17 – “If you’re not the person who’s going to measure the wall, you need someone who is going to do that or, at least, it occurs to them to do that”

21:35 – The greatest lesson Blair has learned as it relates to team building, leadership, and management

22:40 – Blair recommends You Can’t Touch My Hair and Hillbilly Elegy for your next road trip or commute

23:25 – The greatest challenge in the next year at GirlForward